Method of manufacturing absorbent articles, apparatus for manufacturing absorbent articles and disposable pant

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing absorbent articles includes feeding a longitudinal web of web material having openings such that spaced apart, opposing margins of web material are formed between the respective opening and opposing longitudinal edges of the web material; carrying out a folding action of folding the web about itself along its longitudinal direction; carrying out a second folding action of folding at least a portion of the web along its longitudinal direction; after the second folding action, forming a joint in the web, the joint being formed at least in a part of the region in which the opposing margins have been brought together by the second folding action; finally separating the web through the joint to separate an individual absorbent article from the end of the web.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Division of application Ser. No. 13/578,459 filedon Sep. 10, 2012, which is a National Phase of Application No.PCT/EP2010/051899 filed on Feb. 16, 2010. The disclosures of the priorapplications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The present invention pertains to a method of manufacturing absorbentarticles, in particular a method of manufacturing disposable diaperpants or disposable incontinence pants, an apparatus for manufacturingan absorbent article as well as a disposable diaper or incontinencepant.

TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Disposable pants for diapers or for incontinence products are well-knownproducts. For these, it has always been an aim to equip them with agarment-like appearance, such that the diapers or incontinence products,when worn by a user, have the outer appearance of a conventional pant,in particular the appearance of conventional underwear/undergarments.

One of the issues when mass-producing disposable pants of this type isthe appearance of the portion at which the front portion and the rearportion are joined together at the sides. When producing a seam of thiskind, the typical issue that arises is that the seam and any flangeportion that inevitably is produced, sticks out to the outside if thepants are worn by a user.

In order to improve the garment-like appearance of these disposablepants, it is an aim that the side seam and the resulting flange materialdoes not stick out to the sides of the pants but that these seams arenot really visible on the outside.

Several attempts to achieve this have been carried out. WO 2004/062541A1, for example, discloses a method of producing diaper pants ofdisposable type, wherein the weld seams at the sides are made such thatthe front portion and the rear portion overlap in a manner such that theinner layer of the front portion is welded to the outer layer of therear portion. The resulting pant has a garment-like appearance but themethod requires advanced and difficult handling of the diapers at thewelding step.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,673 discloses a method of making a flangeless seamfor a disposable pant, wherein the step of actually making the seamrequires several complicated folding steps.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,854 discloses a disposable undergarment havingadditional break-away panels which connect the front portion and therear portion along seams. The manufacturing process is likewisecomplicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Starting from the technological background given above, it is an objectof the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing absorbentarticles, an apparatus for manufacturing absorbent articles as well as adisposable diaper or incontinence pant which allow for an improved andefficient manufacturing process.

In claim 1, a method to achieve the above object is provided.Accordingly, the method of manufacturing absorbent articles comprisesthe steps of feeding a longitudinal web of web material, the web havingtwo opposing longitudinal edges, a first side and a second side, the webfurthermore having openings situated between the two opposinglongitudinal edges, the openings being spaced apart from one another inthe longitudinal direction of the web such that spaced apart, opposingmargins of web material are formed between the respective opening andthe opposing longitudinal edges of the web material. A first foldingaction of folding the web about itself along its longitudinal directionsuch that portions of the first side of the web face each other iscarried out and a second folding action of folding at least a portion ofthe web along its longitudinal direction to bring together the opposingmargins of web material such that they face each other on the secondside of the web is carried out. After the second folding action, a jointis formed in the web, the joint being formed at least in a part of theregion in which the opposing margins have been brought together by thesecond folding action, the joint extending between the longitudinaledges and the opening in the web. Finally, the web is separated throughthe joint to separate an individual absorbent article from the end ofthe web.

The method has the advantage that disposable pants, in particular diaperor incontinence pants, can be manufactured in which the joint betweenthe layers of material and the resulting flange material is at least inits main portion turned towards the inside of the final product becausethe joint is formed at the two second sides of the web. In other words,the side seams as well as the resulting flange material are turned tothe inside of the final absorbent article. By means of the succession ofthe folding steps, the production can be carried out in a continuousprocess at high speed.

In order to support the final turning of the product, and in particularof the seams, into its intended positioning with the first side insideand the second side outside, the method after forming the jointpreferably further comprises the step of pre-separating the web in theregion where the joint is formed while leaving at least a portion of themargins unaffected to maintain the web integrity along its longitudinaldirection, the unaffected portion of the margins preferably extendingtowards the longitudinal edges.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of carrying out athird folding action of at least partially reversing the second foldingaction such that at least portions of the web folded in the secondfolding action face each other on the first side of the web, beforeseparating the web. By means of the third folding action, the productcan be turned back into its intended positioning with the first sideinside and the second side outside of the product, wherein the joint isthen mainly situated inside the final product. In other words, the sideseams as well as the resulting flange material are situated inside ofthe final absorbent article such that the visual and haptic appearanceof the final absorbent article becomes more garment-like.

Preferably, a further step is carried out of holding the web whencarrying out the third folding action. There are different options forholding the web when carrying out the third folding action. Inparticular, the web can be held at two portions of the web correspondingto two consecutive joints of the web, or it can be held at a leadingjoint or a following joint, seen in the direction of web feed, whilecarrying out the third folding action.

The first folding action can be carried out efficiently either byfolding the web in the first folding action substantially about itslongitudinal center line, or by folding the web in the first foldingaction substantially about a folding line which is offset from itslongitudinal center line.

In the second folding action, the web may be folded about a line whichis spaced apart from the respective longitudinal edges of the websubstantially by the width of the margin of the unfolded web. Incombination with the first folding action, this leads to a substantially“M” cross-section of the folded web which enables an efficient joiningprocess. Preferably, the two opposing longitudinal edges of the web arealigned with one another in or after the second folding step such that ahigh-quality product can be achieved.

In the second folding step, the two opposing portions may be folded in aphase-shifted manner, in particular sequentially, in order to avoidcollision of the respective folding mechanisms.

To provide, in the final product, a seam which is as thin and flexibleas possible, in the step of forming a joint, the joint may be providedin the form of two or more separate joining portions such that at eachindividually cut final product only one of the joining portions remains.Preferably, the two or more separate joining portions are formedsimultaneously in the web material.

To be in a position to efficiently produce pants, before the firstfolding action, preferably a further step is carried out of providingthe web with absorbent sections spaced apart in the longitudinaldirection on the first side of the web, the absorbent section beingsituated between two respective openings.

An apparatus for carrying out the method described above is claimed inclaim 13. Accordingly, the apparatus comprises feeding means for feedinga longitudinal web of web material along a machine direction, the webhaving two opposing longitudinal edges, a first side and a second side,the web furthermore having openings situated between the two opposinglongitudinal edges, the openings being spaced apart from one another inthe longitudinal direction of the web such that spaced apart, opposingmargins of web material are formed between the respective opening andthe opposing longitudinal edges of the web material. The apparatusfurther comprises a first folding means for carrying out a first foldingaction of folding the web about itself along its longitudinal directionsuch that portions of the first side of the web face each other and asecond folding means for carrying out a second folding action of foldingat least a portion of the web along its longitudinal direction to bringtogether the opposing margins of web material such that they face eachother on the second side of the web. Furthermore, the apparatuscomprises a joining means for forming a joint in the web, the jointbeing formed at least in a part of the region in which the opposingmargins have been brought together by the second folding action, thejoint extending between the longitudinal edges and the opening in theweb, the joining means being situated downstream of the first and secondfolding means, and a separating means for separating the web at thejoint to separate an individual absorbent article from the end of theweb, the cutting means being situated downstream of the third foldingmeans.

Preferably, a pre-separating means is provided to pre-separate the webin the region where the joint is formed, while leaving at least aportion of the margins unaffected to maintain the web integrity alongits longitudinal direction, the pre-separating means being situateddownstream of the joining means, wherein the unaffected portion of themargins preferably extends towards the longitudinal edges. Theseparation carried out by the pre-separation means may help to ease theturning of the final product into its intended orientation.

To turn the final product into its intended orientation, a third foldingmeans may be provided for carrying out a third folding action of atleast partially reversing the second folding action such that at leastportions of the web folded in the second folding action face each otheron the first side of the web, the third folding means being situatedupstream of the separating means.

A reliable apparatus can be achieved if the first folding means isprovided by a first guide which extends in the machine direction, thefirst guide being preferably provided in the form of a first guide bar,and/or if the second folding means is provided by a second guide whichextends in the machine direction, the second guide being preferablyprovided by two parallel second guide bars which are spaced apart fromone another. The same arrangement can also be used with respect to thethird folding means, which can be provided in the form of a third guideextending in the machine direction, the third guide being preferablyprovided in the form of a third guide bar. Preferably, the third guideis provided integral with the first guide, and is preferably provided inthe form of the first guide bar extending from an upstream position tocarry out the first folding action, towards a downstream position, forcarrying out the third folding action.

In order to further ease the turning of the product into its intendedorientation, the apparatus further includes a holding means for holdingthe web when carrying out the third folding action, the holding meansbeing arranged in the vicinity of the third folding means.

Preferably, the holding means is arranged to hold the web at twoportions corresponding to two consecutive joints of the web whencarrying out the third folding action.

Preferably, the holding means may be provided in the form of a polygonalwheel, the edges of the polygonal wheel being synchronised with thejoining means such that the edges of the polygonal wheel contact the websubstantially at the joints. Preferably, the holding means may also beprovided in the form of an engaging mechanism, the engaging action ofwhich is arranged to be synchronised with the joining means such thatthe engaging action takes place at the joints, the engaging mechanismbeing preferably provided in the form of clamps, fingers, paddles or ofa belt pressing against fingers, paddles or corners of a polygonalwheel. In order to increase friction between the edges of the polygonalwheel and the web, the surfaces between the corners of the polygonalwheel are preferably concave. To securely hold the web to the wheel, theholding means is preferably provided with a vacuum means that isintended to hold at least a part of the web at the holding means. Ofcourse, vacuum means can also be provided between the respective cornersof the wheel in order to hold the remaining portion of the web closelyto the wheel. This specific embodiment facilitates carrying out thethird folding action because the vacuum sucks one side of the folded webtowards the wheel and provides for a minute separation of the respectivefirst sides of the web such that a gap is opened through which the webcan be pass in the third folding action.

Disposable pants according to claim 26 are provided. The disposablepants include a longitudinal web of web material, the web having twoopposing longitudinal edges, a first side and a second side. The webfurthermore having openings situated between the two opposinglongitudinal edges, the openings being spaced apart from one another inthe longitudinal direction of the web such that spaced apart and twoopposing margins of web material are formed between the respectiveopening and the opposing longitudinal edges of the web material. The twoopposing margins being joined to one another at least in a part of theregion of the opposing margins and the resulting seam being at leastpartially directed towards the inside of the disposable pants, whereinthe largest lateral dimension of the opening being larger than two timesthe smallest lateral dimension of the smallest margin.

A disposable pant of this type has the advantage that it has agarment-like feel and appearance and it can be effectively produced bymeans of the method and/or apparatus described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, embodiments of the apparatus for and the method ofmanufacturing absorbent articles are disclosed in the attached Figures,in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first portion of an apparatus of a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a first alternative of a second portion of the apparatus ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a second alternative of the second portion of the apparatusof FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 to 11 show schematically an embodiment of the method ofmanufacturing an absorbent article;

FIG. 12 shows different variants of joints in the product;

FIG. 13 shows an alternative embodiment of a holding means;

FIG. 14 shows yet another embodiment of a holding means;

FIG. 15 shows another variant of a holding means;

FIG. 16 shows an absorbent article manufactured by the method;

FIG. 17 shows different arrangements of the first and second guide bars;and

FIG. 18 shows an alternative embodiment for carrying out the thirdfolding action.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure willbe described by means of reference to the attached Figures. In theFigures, like or same elements will be denoted by the same referencenumerals and repeated description thereof may be omitted in order toavoid redundancies.

FIG. 1 shows a first, upstream, portion of a manufacturing apparatus 100according to the present disclosure, which is intended to manufactureabsorbent articles, and, in particular, disposable diaper pants and/orincontinence pants.

A longitudinal web of web material 1 is fed along the feeding directionX, which is also the machine direction MD. The web 1 has a first side 10and a second side 12. The web 1 comprises two opposing longitudinaledges 14 and is provided with openings 16 which are spaced apart fromone another and which are provided fully inside the boundaries providedby the web of material 1. Between the openings 16 and the twolongitudinal edges 14, opposing margins 18 of web material are present.The margins are intended to be defined in the area between the dottedlines, i.e. the margins extend in a cross-machine direction CD betweenany portion of the opening 16 and the respective longitudinal edge 14 ofthe web 1.

An absorbent core 19 is placed between two consecutive openings 16 inthe web 1. The absorbent core may extend into the margins of webmaterial.

A feeding means for feeding the web 1 is provided, which is, however,not shown in FIG. 1. The feeding means may be a roller from which thereadily-manufactured web including the openings 16 and the absorbentcores 19 is unrolled. The feeding means may also be provided in anyupstream station in the production process from which the web 1 with atleast the selected features discussed above is fed to the apparatus 100.

After the feeding means, a first folding means 2 is provided, whichcarries out a first folding action of folding the web 1 about itselfalong its longitudinal direction X, such that portions of the first side10 of the web material face each other. In the embodiment shown in FIG.1, the web 1 is folded upon itself such that the two opposinglongitudinal edges 14 are actually aligned with one another, as can beseen at reference numeral 20. However, this very specific alignment isnot essential for the method.

The first folding means 2 is provided in the form of a guide bar 22,which extends, at least in its effective folding portion, along thefeeding direction X and the machine direction MD of the apparatus 100.The first guide bar 22 provides a clear-cut edge or axis about which theweb 1 can be folded lengthwise.

In addition to the first guide bar 22, a folding plough or foldingboards are intended to be present, which are, however, not shown forclarity reasons in FIG. 1. The folding boards or the folding plough areintended to bring together the opposing edges 14 or, at least, theopposing margins 18 of the web 1 in the form as shown at referencenumeral 20.

Downstream of the first folding means 2, a second folding means 3 ispresent, which affects a second folding action for folding at least aportion of the web 1 along its longitudinal direction to bring togetherthe opposing margins of the web material, such that they face each otheron the second side 12 of the web.

The readily-folded web, folded by the second folding means, can be seenat reference numeral 30. At this position, the folded web 1 has,substantially, an “M”-shape in cross-section. It is to be noted that themargins 18 can be and, preferably, are brought together directly at theposition of reference numeral 30 and at the second side 12 of the web,because the openings 16 of the web 1 permit a direct contact of the twomargins 18 at reference numeral 30.

The second folding means is provided by means of two second guide bars32, which likewise extend along the feeding direction X and which arespaced apart from one another slightly in the plane defined by theunfolded web 1 and are spaced apart from the first guide bar 22 in thedirection perpendicular to the unfolded web by a distance d in theheight-direction in the Figure.

Distance d is set, in the embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,such that the margins 18 can be brought together fully without theopposing longitudinal edges 14 touching the lower bar 22. Accordingly,the distance d is at least the distance of the smallest portion of themargin 18 plus the extension of the respective guide bars 22, 32.

A joining means 4 is present in order to form a joint in the web,wherein the joint is formed in at least a part of the region in whichthe opposing margins 18 have been brought together by the second foldingaction at the second folding means 3.

In the illustrated embodiment, the joint in the web 1 is provided in theweb by means of an ultrasonic welding tool 40 having a welding horn 42,which fits between the first guide bar 22 and the second guide bar 32.Naturally, other joining means well-known in the art may be used. In thepresent case, the welding horn 42 enables welding the opposing margins18 together. It is to be noted that the welding process takes placesubstantially through the opening 16 of the web 1, such that only theopposing margins 18 are welded together and, thus, only two layers ofmaterial are joined to one another.

The welding horn 42 works against a welding cylinder 44, which issynchronised with the web and in particular synchronised with thesuccession of the respective openings 16 in order to be in a position toproduce a joint between the then to be cut individual absorbentarticles.

Downstream of the joining means 4, a pre-separating means 5 forpre-separating the web in the region where the joint is formed ispresent. The pre-separating means 5 is provided in the form of rotatingknives 50, which cut the web at the region where the joint 46 isprovided in the web 1. As can be seen at reference numeral 50, thepre-separating step leads to a situation in which a part of the web isalready pre-separated, but a portion of the joint 46 remains intact onboth opposing portions of the cut. At the opposing longitudinal edge 14of the web, at reference numeral 50, a small portion of the margin 18remains unseparated, in order to maintain the web integrity along itslongitudinal direction.

Furthermore, at reference numeral 50, the two second guide bars 32terminate, such that the folds that were created at the second foldingmeans 3 are no longer guided by the second guide bars 32. However, inother embodiments the second guide bars may also terminate in othersections of the apparatus such as directly after the first foldingaction or as late as immediately before the third folding action.

The first guide bar 22, however, remains and still guides the fold thatwas created at the first folding means 2.

In FIG. 2, a first alternative of the process of unfolding the folds andturning the joined portion towards the inside of the final product isshown.

In particular, a holding means 6 is provided which is shown in FIG. 2 asa clamping means 60. The clamping means 60 grips the pre-cut web 1 atthe respective consecutive joints 46 in the web 1 substantially at thewaist band portion 140 of the folded web, such that a single individualabsorbent article is clamped between two consecutive clamps 60.

A third folding means 7 is provided downstream of the holding process.The third folding means carries out an unfolding of a crotch section ofthe absorbent article provided with the absorbent core 19, such that thefolding process that was carried out at the second folding means 3 is atleast partially reversed. In particular, the region of the opposingmargins 18 that were folded upon one another at the second folding means3 are now folded back into an orientation in which the respective firstsides 10 of the web face each other.

The third folding means 7 is provided, in FIG. 2, by means of the firstguide bar 22, wherein the first guide bar 22 bends away downwardly, suchthat the crotch portion is pulled out of its M-folded configuration. Atthe opposing side edges 14, a waist band portion remains.

A separating means 8 is provided downstream of the third folding means7, wherein the separating means 8 completely separates individualabsorbent articles from the web.

As will be appreciated, the final absorbent product, which is preferablya disposable diaper pant or a disposable incontinence pant, has astructure in which the majority of the joint 46, which was provided atthe joining means 4, is now located inside of the absorbent article. Inparticular, the majority of the flange material 460 remaining at thejoint 46 is situated inside the final pants. The last small portion,which corresponds to a waist band portion, remains folded to the outsidebut can be likewise re-folded in order to achieve an absorbent articlein which the entire joint, and in particular the flange resulting fromthe cutting action, is situated inside the absorbent article.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative to the clamps 60 of FIG. 2. The holdingmeans 6 in FIG. 3 is provided in the form of a polygonal wheel 62,having corners 64. The polygonal wheel 62 has a length of each of thesides of the polygon which corresponds to a distance between twoconsecutive joints 46. Furthermore, the polygonal wheel 62 issynchronised with the joints such that each joint 46 of the web isassociated with one of the corners 64 of the polygonal wheel.Preferably, the sides of the polygonal wheel between the corners 64 areslightly concave in order to increase the friction at the corners 64.

The polygonal wheel 62 is adapted to hold the respective absorbentarticle at the respective joints 46 during the third folding action. Thethird folding means 7 is shown in FIG. 3, again as the first guide bar,which bends away from the initial position in order to pull out thecrotch portion of the absorbent article.

To support holding the web at the waist band portion 140, the polygonalwheel 62 may also be provided with vacuum means, either at the corners,between the corners or in a circumferential arrangement, such that thewaist band portion 140 can by closely sucked to the wheel 62.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 11, the method of manufacture is explainedagain in more detail.

In particular, in FIG. 4, the web 1 with openings 16, absorbent cores19, opposing side edges 14 and margins 18 is shown. Furthermore, a waistband section 17 is also shown in FIG. 4 and the feeding direction is,this time, from the left-hand side to the right-hand side along thedirection indicated by arrow X.

FIG. 5 shows a first folding action by means of a first guide bar 22,wherein the web 1 is folded lengthwise such that the opposing side edges14 are brought together such that the margins 18 overlap at the firstside 10 of the web.

The then folded web as shown in FIG. 6 is to be carried along thefeeding direction X.

In FIG. 7, a second folding process at folding means 3 is shown, whereinsecond guide bars 32 are provided. As can be seen, the portions of themargins 18 are folded downwards again, about the edge provided by thesecond guide bars 32, wherein in FIG. 7 only the first portion of theweb 1 is folded downwards and in FIG. 8 it is shown that also the otherside of the web is folded downwards. In other words, the opposingportions of the web are folded sequentially.

In FIG. 9, it is shown that the two margins 18 overlap through theopenings 16 of the web and a joint 46 is formed at the joining means 4.The joint shown in FIG. 9 comprises of two separate seams 46′ and 46″,and in the pre-separation step 5, a cut is carried out between the firstseam 46′ and the second seam 46″, however, leaving the waist bandportion 17 unseparated, in order to maintain the structural integrity ofthe web.

In FIG. 10, the third folding process at the third folding means 7 isshown, wherein the first guide bar 22 simply bends away from itsoriginal path, such as to pull downwards the crotch section of theabsorbent article, such that the material folded in the second foldingaction is actually reversed with respect to its orientation.

The resulting absorbent article is shown in FIG. 11, in which, atstation 8, a final cut is carried out to separate individual absorbentarticles from the web.

It is to be noted that the waist band 70 is still in the folded positionas carried out in the second folding step. However, the majority of thejoint 46′ and 46″ is folded back so that the flange material situatedbetween the first seam 46′ and the second seam 46″ actually pointstowards the inside.

FIG. 12 shows different variants of forming a joint 46. In particular,the joints at the right hand side of the Figure are provided in the formof full joints in which a relatively large area of the web is joinedtogether. The joints 46 shown on the left hand side of the Figure areprovided in the form of separated welding spots which are situated moreor less symmetrical to the intended separating line 80 such thatunbonded material remains in the flange portions 460. This unbondedmaterial in the flange portions 460 has the advantage that the jointshave a softer feel to the skin.

FIG. 13 shows an alternative to the polygonal wheel 62 shown in FIG. 3.Here, the web 1 is held at the respective joints by means of paddles 66which are driven on a chain belt 660.

FIG. 14 shows yet another embodiment of a holding means 6, namely in theform of paddles 68 which press against a conveyer belt 680 at thepositions of the respective joints 46.

As shown in FIG. 15, in order to ensure a secure conveying during thethird folding process, a groove 63 can be provided in a substantiallyround wheel 65, wherein in the groove 63 the waist band portion 140 canbe situated while the third folding action is carried out. The waistband portion 140 may be pressed into the groove 63 by means of a holdingbelt 630 which is situated substantially in the same position as thegroove 63 and presses the waist band portion 140 towards the wheel 65.

In FIG. 16, an individual absorbent article 9 is shown, in its reversedstate such that the absorbent core 19 points towards the outside and itis the first side 10 that points towards the outside. The two seams 46′and 46″ are shown, which leave flange material 460 remaining at theoutside. This flange material 460 points towards the inside of the pantwhen it is in its final arrangement.

Because a first separation step and a second separation step are carriedout at two consecutive absorbent articles, the cut at the flange 460shows an irregular edge 462 which may have kinks 464 in it. Furthermore,the absorbent article shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 16 shows anasymmetric irregularity on its left- and right-hand sides of flange 460.

FIG. 17 shows exemplarily cross sections through the arrangement of thefirst guide bar 22 and the second guide bars 32, 33 in differentarrangements. It is noted that the distance between the first guide bar22 and the respective third guide bars 32, 33 is determined, inter alia,by the lateral distance of the margins 18. This dimensional restrictionis necessary in order to carry out the joining step by means of thewelding horn 42 as shown in FIG. 1 such that only two layers of thematerial are joined to one another, substantially through the opening16.

In fact, in order to be in a position to carry out the method shownschematically in FIG. 1, the maximum lateral size of the opening 16 hasto be larger than two times the smaller of the margins 18. Typically,the margins 18 have the identical lateral extension such that theopening 16 needs to be larger at the position in which the joint is tobe formed than twice the lateral extension of the margins 18.

The different arrangements shown in FIG. 17 do not only accommodate forasymmetric shapes of the opening 16 such as to provide larger coverageof the disposable pants at the back side than at the front side, butalso accommodate for different arrangements of the apparatus.

FIG. 18 shows yet another embodiment of an apparatus for carrying outthe third folding action. In particular, the absorbent article is stillguided by the first guide bar 22 at its crotch portion and the waistband portion 140 is guided by two rollers 620, 622. In order to carryout the third folding action, namely to unfold the pants, the firstguide bar 22 is guided away from the plane in which the waist bandportion 140 of the absorbent article is guided and held by the tworollers 620, 622 such that the third folding action is carried out andthe crotch portion is unfolded such that the seams at the joints areturned at least partially towards the inside of the final pants.

1. An apparatus for manufacturing an absorbent article, the apparatuscomprising: a feeder for feeding a longitudinal web of web materialalong a machine direction, the web having two opposing longitudinaledges, a first side and a second side, the web furthermore havingopenings situated between the two opposing longitudinal edges, theopenings being spaced apart from one another in the longitudinaldirection of the web such that spaced apart, opposing margins of webmaterial are formed between the respective opening and the opposinglongitudinal edges of the web material; a first folder for carrying outa first folding action of folding the web about itself along itslongitudinal direction such that portions of the first side of the webface each other; a second folder for carrying out a second foldingaction of folding at least a portion of the web along its longitudinaldirection to bring together the opposing margins of web material suchthat they face each other on the second side of the web; a joiner forforming a joint in the web, the joint being formed at least in a part ofthe region in which the opposing margins have been brought together bythe second folding action, the joint extending between the longitudinaledges and the opening in the web, the joining means being situateddownstream of the first and second folding means; and a separator forseparating the web at the joint to separate an individual absorbentarticle from the end of the web, the cutting means being situateddownstream of the third folding means.
 2. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising a pre-separator for pre-separating the webin the region where the joint is formed while leaving at least a portionof the margins unaffected to maintain the web integrity along itslongitudinal direction, the pre-separating means being situateddownstream of the joining means, the unaffected portion of the marginspreferably extending towards the longitudinal edges.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a third folder for carrying outa third folding action of at least partially reversing the secondfolding action such that at least portions of the web folded in thesecond folding action face each other on the first side of the web, thethird folding means being situated upstream of the separating means. 4.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first folder is providedby a first guide which extends in the machine direction, the first guidebeing preferably provided in the form of a first guide bar.
 5. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second folder is provided bya second guide which extends in the machine direction, second guidebeing preferably provided by two parallel second guide bars which arespaced apart from one another.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the third folder is provided in the form of a third guide whichextends in the machine direction, the third guide being preferablyprovided in the form of a guide bar.
 7. The apparatus according to claim6, wherein the third guide is provided integral with the first guide,and is preferably provided in the form of the first guide bar extendingfrom an upstream position to carry out the first folding action, towardsa downstream position, for carrying out the third folding action.
 8. Theapparatus according to claim 1, further including a holder for holdingthe web when carrying out the third folding action, the holding meansbeing arranged in the vicinity of the third folding means.
 9. Theapparatus according to claim 8, wherein the holder is arranged to holdthe web at two portions corresponding to two consecutive joints of theweb when carrying out the third folding action.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein the holder is provided by polygonal wheel,the corners of the polygonal wheel being synchronised with the joinersuch that the edges of the polygonal wheel contact the web substantiallyat the joints.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein theholder is provided in the form of an engaging mechanism, the engagingaction of which is arranged to be synchronised with the joiner such thatthe engaging action takes place at the joints, the engaging mechanismbeing preferably provided in the form of clamps, fingers, paddles or ofa belt pressing against fingers, paddles, or corners of a polygonalwheel.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the surfacesbetween the corners of the polygonal wheel are concave.
 13. Theapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the holder is provided with avacuum that is intended to hold at least a part of the web at theholder.
 14. Disposable pants, manufactured with the apparatus accordingto claim 1, the disposable pants including a longitudinal web of webmaterial, the web having two opposing longitudinal edges, a first sideand a second side, the web furthermore having openings situated betweenthe two opposing longitudinal edges, the openings being spaced apartfrom one another in the longitudinal direction of the web such thatspaced apart and two opposing margins of web material are formed betweenthe respective opening and the opposing longitudinal edges of the webmaterial, the two opposing margins being joined to one another at leastin a part of the region of the opposing margins and the resulting seambeing at least partially directed towards the inside of the disposablepants, wherein the largest lateral dimension of the opening being largerthan two times the smallest lateral dimension of the smallest margin.15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the absorbent articles aredisposable diaper pants or disposable incontinence pants.